Magazine fire arm



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

(No Model.)

w. ELLIOT. MAGAZINE FIRE ARM.

Patented Nov. 4, 1884.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. W. H. ELLIOT.

MAGAZINE FIRE ARM.

Patented Nov. 4, 1884.

R O T N B V N I ATENT WILLIAM H. ELLIOT,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

MAGAZINE FIRE-ARM.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters-Patent No. 307,531, datedNovember 4, 1884.

Application filed May 29,1884. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WM. H. ELLIOT, of New York, county of New York, andState of New York, have invented a new and Improved Magazine Fire-Arm,of which the following is a specification.

The object and nature of my invention may be described as follows.-

The object of my invention is to provide an arm with a cartridge case ormagazine adapted thereto, which shall be more rapid and more practical,especially as a military arm, than any new in use; and the nature of myinvention consists in the use of certain appliances and methods, whichare fully set forth in the following specification and claims.

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section, showing the small parts inelevation. Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of the receiver andguardstrap at open lines as, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-sectionof the arm at openlincs m, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is an elevation of twocartridge-heads, showing the points of lever i in section. Fig. 5 is aview of a portion of the lower side of the tip-stock and handle. Fig. 6is a vertical cross-section of the arm through the handle. Fig. 7 inSheet 2 is a plan of a portion of the arm. Fig. 8 is an elevation of afeedlever and head ofa cartridge. Fig. 9 is two views of the feed-lever,showing bifurcated points. Fig. 10 is an elevation of the case-supportsin the closed position. Fig. 11 is an elevation of the feed-lever andcartridge. Fig. 12 is an elevation of a hannncnpawl and rear end of thebolt. Fig. 13 is a vertical cross-section of acartridge-case andcartridges near the rear end. Fig. 14 is an the rear end of acartrii'lge-casc. Fig. 15 is a vertical cross-section of a cartridgecase and cartridges near the forward end. Fig. 16 is a plan of acartridge-case.

My invention refers to that class of arms which have detachablemagazines or cartridgecases arranged when in use upon the upper side ofthe arm over the receiver.

My improved arm has a bolt for closing the chamber, which moves in aline with the barrel, and is operated by means of aslidinghan dlearranged under the rear end of the barrel forward of the receiver, asshown in my patents of May 29 and September 18, 1883. The

elevation of of the sides of the receiver and, extending to.

brace slides, as shown in Fig. 1.

The connectingstrap hslidcs in grooves, or guides within the receiver,and, me tending forward under the barrel,has a handle, l h, at itsforward end, which is guided by the l dovetailed project-ion h, runningin a corresponding groove or equivalent devices in the I the rearward,form a recess into which the 1 has other under side of the tip'stock, asshown in Figs.

4 and 5. The rear end of the connecting-strap is joined or connected tothe brace f by the link g, which is pivoted to the brace at g and to theconnectingstrap at g".

In operation, a backward movement of the handle first pushes the rearend of the brace upward and off from the shoulders f and then I pushesthe brace and boltbackward to the po sition shown in Fig. 1. A reversemovement I of the handle drags the brace and bolt for- I ward and bringsthe brace down in front of the recoil-shoulders, as shown at f in openlines.

The employment of the link 9 between the reciprocating slide h and therear end of the brace f enables me to furnish both the bolt and slidewith immovable or fixed guides,

! while at the same time all the joints between the bolt and the slideare simple pivot-joints.

, The link acting longitudinally gives the necessary movement to thebolt, while by swinging on its forward pivot it allows the necessaryvertical movement of the brace without the use of any slip orlock'joints.

l The receiver has a recess, k, 011 its upper side, which opens at thebottom into the receiving-chamber. The rear half of this opening in thebottom of the recess is too narrow to allow the head of a cartridge tomove laterally into the receiving-chamber, as shown in Fig. 3, though itis sufficiently wide to let the head of a cartridge .project into thereceiving-chamber far enough to be engaged and driven forward by thebolt but where the carconstruction of the recess the cartridge cannot atany timefall-out of the receiver from the time it leaves thecartridge-case until it has been fired, when its shell is extracted andI ejected in the usualway through the opening it. a

The feed-lever or feeding device i is pivoted to the receiver at z"centrally, and in the rear of recess is, and it extends upward into themagazine to engage and act upon the head of the first cartridgetherein,-swinging through the opening in the rear, wall of the magazine.This lever also has a pin, 1', on its side, which projects into grooved{ in the side of the bolt. As the bolt is moved forward in manipulatingthe arm, the pin 1", comingin contact with the rear end of grooved",brings the lever 'i to the position shown in Fig. 11, when the headof the first cartridge in the case falls into it. As the boltis movedbackward the pin 1' strikes the forward end of groove d, which suddenlybrings the lever and cartridge to the position shown in Fig. 1, andsometimes sends the cartridge its whole length into the barrel.

The feed-lever or feeding device need not necessarily be arranged asshown. It may swing upon an axis parallel with the barrel;

or any other convenient arrangement of lever or character of device mayserve the same purpose. The mouth of the magazine, in-

cluding the opening 0, is covered by a strip a of cloth or othermaterial pasted or otherwise lightly attached thereto. By leaving thecover on the mouth of the cartridge-case after it has been-placedbetween the supports, it serves as a cut-off until such time as itbecomes necessary to use the magazine. The recess It has four curved orguiding-surfaces, which act upon the cartridge when it is drivendownward and forward out of the cartridgecase .intothe receiver tosafely and surely guide it into the chamber of the barrel. f

It may be seen by reference to Fig. 11 that the rear end of thecartridge rests upouthe .point 1 of the feed-lever, being raised a lit-.

tle'above the surface 91' thereby. While the cartridge is in thisposition its forward end rests upon the end of the spring r, and againstthe inner wall of the recess. When the bolt is near the rearward limitof its movement the lever i is rotated from the position shown inclinedor guiding surface 11/.

in Fig. 10 to that shown in Fig. 1, which causes the head of the firstcartridge in the case to glide downward and forward upon the This causesthe forward end of the cartridge to pass under the guiding-surface n,cut in the under side of an overhanging portion of the receiver. By thismovement the spring 1", yield- 3 ingvto the pressure of the cartridge,permits of the extractor.

it to pass forward into the chamber and downward on its way of thebarrel, the head of the cartridge being crowded by the curved surface apartly into the receiving-chamber, so that when the bolt moves forwardit engages the head of the cartridge and drives it into the chamber ofthe barrel. As the cartridge passes on to the portion of the recessopposite the laterally-curved surface at, Figs. 1 and7, it is so thebarrel causes it to swing laterally out of recess 10 into thereceiving-chamber in line with the bolt and barrel, andunder the hookvIt is .then forced forward by the bolt directly into the barrel. Thefeed lever extends far enough upwardinto the case,

far forward that the chamber of when that device is onthe arm to strikethe first cartridge near the top of its head; or, as shown in openlines, Fig. 11, and in section, Fig. 4, the two points of the lever maystrike between theheads of the first and second cartridges. In thelatter case the operation of this device is as follows: At the momentthe two points strike between the two heads, the point r is withdrawn,and the lever continuing its movement, while it holds the head of thesecond cartridge up out of the way of the first,-it drives the head ofthe latter at first directly down and'then downward and forward upon theguiding surface n. Fig. 4 shows the head of the first cartridge in rearmovement of the first cartridge would be interfered with were it not forthe peculiar operation of the fecd-lever above described.

of the head of the second. in which case the The bifurcation of thepoint of the lever I has two objects. It avoids touching the primer andit enables the double point to enter between the heads of two cartridgesthat lie one upon the other. The .plan view, Fig. 9, shows at 0" thebifurcation best adapted to strike between the heads.

Fig. 1 3 and the three following figures are different views-of myimproved cartridge-case and magazine combined. The shelves m, Figs. 13and 15, are so placed that no more than two cartridges can rest one uponanotherin any position. These shelves are. inclined upon both sides, soas to facilitate both the filling and the emptying of the case. They arealso arranged so that only the weight of one cartridge can be broughtupon the cover or device for holding the cartridge in the case, as shownat m, Figs. 13 and 15'. As the last or lower portion ofthe'serpentine-chambeigwhich contains the first and second cartridges,is arranged horizontally, and as the second cartridge must rest upon theplate u,one only of the cartridges in the case can mast upon the coverof the between them. In Fig. 10 they are shown in the horizontalposition, as when not in use, the arm being used as a singlebreech-loader, in which case the cartridges are inserted and the shellsejected through the recess it. While the supports are in a horizontalposition they form a tight cover for the recess under them. Thesesupports are held both in the closed and open positions by springs, asat c. Fig. 10, in the same way that the spring of a pocketknife holdsthe blade in two positions. They may also be provided with spring orpositive catches to hold the case down upon the receiver while in use,as at r, Fig. l. The supports are considerably flared at the top, asseen at c, Fig. 7, to facilitate the introduction of the case betweenthem. It is obvious that the grooves may be formed upon thecartridge-cases, and the ribsupon the supports with the same result,which would be a fair equivalent of the arrangement shown.

Fig. 12 illustrates my improved method of starting the cartridge-shellin case it sticks in the chamber after firing. The pawl e is pivoted tothe hammer e at e, and takes in the notch e on the under side of thebolt. To start a sticking shell, the brace f is first raised by movingthe handle backward; then, by pulling back on the thumb-piece of thehammer, that device acts as a lever to start the shell. The pawl is ofsuch relative length that its point will not catch the point e when thetrigger is in the safety-notch of the hammer; but when the hammer isdown upon the firing-pin the point of the pawl readily engages thenotch. As the pawl is drawn back, the rear end moving downwardupon theaxis of the hammer causes the point .9 to strikethe under side of thebolt and so disengage the pawl from the notch 6 after the bolt has beendrawn out a short distance. The pawl is actuated by spring 8'. v

As a material to be used in the manufacture of these cases I preferpapienmach formed in molds under pressure and heat, and having in itscomposition resinous gums, such as are generally used for renderingpaper strong, non-flexible, and impervious to water. These cases arelight, comparatively noiseless, and too cheap to make it an object tosave them on the field of battle for reloading. The partitions orshelves being so arranged that only two cartridges can rest one uponanother, they are equally adapted to be used as packingcases for thetransportation of cartridges and for magazines when applied to the gun,so that the'cartridges in them do not require to be disturbed from thetime they are put in by the manufacturer until they are taken out by thegun. Cheap tin cases may be struck up in dies; but I consider such casesinferior to papiermach.

The lever 1', as shown in Fig. 8, is camshaped or eccentric on its top.The amount of eccentricity is shown by the open lines, which areconcentric to the axis of the lever. The object of giving this form tothe lever. is to -may be stripped off either before orafter the magazineis adjusted to the arm. \Vhen stripped off after, the cartridgesimmediately move down a little toward the receiver, so that the firstcartridge partly passes out of the 'magazine.

Myimproved arm may be used as a repeating breech-loader without acartridge-receptacle by bringing the supportsc a little nearer together,and by making the grooves 0 wide and deep enough to take in and supportthe two ends of the cartridge. In use, a handful of cartridges is takenfrom the pocket and dropped into the supports. The lower cartridge,being partly in the receiver, is caught by the feeding device and sentforward as surely as if it were dropped from the mouth of acartridge-magazine.

I disclaim the invention of a guide secured to the barrel independentlyof the magazine with which the handle h engages and by which it isguided.

Having described my invention, what I desire to have secured to me byLetters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a magazine firearm, the combination of devices, substantially asfollows: a belt for closing the arm, a brace for receiving the recoilpivoted to said belt at its forward end, and at its rear end restingupon recoil-shoulders within the receiver, and a reciprocating slideconnected at its rear end with the rear end of said brace by means of.link and at its for ward end provided with a handle for operating thesame, said link being pivotally connected with both said brace and saidreciprocating slide, substantially as specified.

2. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver hav-' ing recess is opening at'thcbottom into the receiving-chamber and provided with a detachablecartridge-magazine arranged upon the top of the receiver over saidrecess, and provided with opening 0 in its rear wall, and in combinationtherewith feed-lever 2', supported by the receiver and operated by themovement ofthe mechanism which closes the arm, said lever extendingupward above the top of the receiver into the magazine to engage and actupon the first cartridge therein through the opening 0, substantially asspecified.

3. In a magazine firearm, the combination of devices, substantially asfollows: a receiver provided with the recess 7c,opening into thereceiving-chamber at the bottom, said opening being of such width at itsrear portion that the head of the cartridge projects only enough intothe receiving-chamber to be engaged by the bolt, a feed-lever, 17, whichis pivoted to the receiver at i, and is operated by pin-anda grooveconnection 1* and'd with the bolt, and a bolt for engaging and forcingthe cartridge into the barrel, whereby the cartridge is carried from thetop of the receiver into the barrel by positive movement, without at anytime being released from the devices that control it, as set forth.

4. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a recess, It, opening atthe bottom into the receiving-chamber, and provided with a detachablecartridge-magazine arranged upon the top of the same over said recess,and in combination therewith a feed-lever, 1;, pivoted to the receiverand operated by connection with the moving breech mechanism, said lever,extending up into the magazine, acting upon the first cartridge thereinto force it out of the same into the receiver, and suitable guiding-isurfaces to direct the cartridge into the receiving-chamber,substantially as shown and described.

5. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a recess, k, opening at thebottom into the receivingchamber, a detachable cartridgemagazinearranged upon the top of the receiver, said recess being covered by themouth of the magazine and provided with the downward and forward curvedsurface n, and in combination therewith the feed-lever z, sup ported bythe receiver and operated by the movement of the mechanism for closingthe arm, whereby the said surface supports and guides the cartridge-headunder the action of the feed-lever, substantially as shown anddescribed.

6. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having recess '70, opening at thebottom into the receiving chamber and provided with the downward andforward inclined or curved surface n, and also the downwardand laterallycurved or inclined surface 02, a cartridge-magazine arranged upon theupper side of the receiver over said recess, and in combinationtherewith a feed-lever pivoted to' the receiver and operated byconnection with the mechanism for closing the arm, whereby thecartridge-head is driven down by the lever guided forward toward thechamber of the barrehand guided laterally toward the receiving-chamber,substantially as specified.

7. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a, recess, k, opening atthe bottom into the receivingchamber, and provided with the downward andforward guiding surface 01, also the downward guiding-surface a, acartridge-magazine arranged upon the upper side of the receiver oversaid recess, and in combi nation therewith a feed-lever supported by thereceiver and operated by connection with the mechanism for closing thearm whereby both ends of the cartridge are forced downward and forwardin the direction of the barrel by positive movements, substantially asspecified.

8. A magazine fire-arm having a recess, 70, opening atthe bottom intothe receiving-chamher, and provided with the downward and for wardguiding-surface n', the downward guiding-surface n, and the laterallyguiding-surface at, a cartridgemagazine arranged upon the upper side ofthe receiver over said recess, and in combination therewith a feed-leversupported by the receiver and operated by connection with the mechanismfor closing the arm, whereby both ends of the cartridge are forceddownward and forward in the direction of the barrel and the cartridgecrowded toward the receiving-chamber to'bring it under the action of thebolt, all by positive movement, substantially as described. v

9. In a magazine fire arm, a receiver having a recess, 70, opening atthe bottom into the receiving chamber, and provided with the spring randthe downwardlyinclined guid ing-surface n, and in combinationtherewith a feed-lever supported by the receiver and operated byconnection with the mechanism for closing the arm, whereby the ingoingcartridge is held up out of the way of the outgoing shell until operatedupon by the feedlever, substantially as set forth.

10. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a recess, 70, opening atthe bottom into the receiving-chamber, a cartridge-magazine arranged onthe upper side of said receiver over said recess, and in combinationtherewith a feed-lever supported by the receiver, arranged centrally inthe rear of said recess, and operated by connection with the mechanismfor closing the arm, and provided with bifurcated point 3, which isarranged at such a height as to pass between the heads of the first twocartridges, whereby the head of the second cartridge is held up out ofthe way while the first is driven forward toward the barrel,substantially as described.

11. In a magazine firearm, a receiver having a recess, k, opening at thebottom into the receiving-chamber,a cartridge-magazine arranged upon thetop of said receiver over the recess, and in combination therewithafeedlever supported by thereceiver, operated by the mechanism forclosing the arm, and ,pro vided with point 0 and supporting point 0,whereby the head of the cartridge is allowed to drop down upon thesurface n simultaneously with the commencement of its movement forward,substantially as specified.

12. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a recess, 70, opening atthe bottom into the receiving-chamber, a cartridge-magazine arrangedupon the top of the receiver, and pro vided with vertical ribs 0 on thefront and rear ends of the magazine, and in combination therewith hingedsupports provided with grooves c in the inner faces of the same,whichare adapted to be turned down upon-the arm when not in use,substantially as specified.

13. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a recess, 10, opening atthe bottom into the receiving-chamber, and'provided with hinged supportswhich,when standing vertically, support the magazine against the recoilof the arm, but when turned down upon the receiv- ICC or, as when usingthe arm as a single breechloa-der, form a close cover to the recess k,sub stantially as specified.

14. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a recess, k, opening atthe bottom into the receiving chamber, and provided with a detachablemagazine arranged upon the top of the receiver over said recess, and incombination therewith a feed-lever supported by the receiver andoperated by connection with the mechanism for closing the arm,-andhaving its upper surface cut in the form of a cam or eccentric, wherebysaid lever is held from turning back by accident by the weight of one ofthe cartridges in the magazine which rests upon it, substantially asspecified.

15. In a magazine fire-arm, a receiver having a recess, la, opening atthe bottom into the specified. A

- WM. H. ELLIOT. \Vitnesses:

D. LEWIS, GEo. D. RICHARDSON.

